The Babinski Sign in the First Italian Reports

The Babinski sign, named after Joseph François Félix Babiński (1857–1932), is one of the most important in clinical neurology. It refers to the upward movement of the great toe following stimulation of the foot sole and is associated with a dysfunction of the pyramidal tract. The BS was recognized and adopted by neurologists all over the world immediately after its first description. In 1899, this sign was first introduced to the Italian scientific community at two different medical meetings. Some opinions on its clinical value and underlying pathophysiology were discordant, possibly reflecting suboptimal diagnostic accuracy of the first observations. Giovanni Mingazzini (1859–1929) first suggested that the BS reflects a complex mechanism emerging in patients with pyramidal tract dysfunction, whereas Giovanni Boeri (1867–1946) emphasized that the BS can be elicited if the neuromuscular structures underlying it are intact. Although some of their opinions eventually proved wrong, early Italian neurologists further contributed to the advancement in the understanding of this phenomenon.